The relationship between timber use in construction and property purchasing decisions in Australia: The mediating effects of environmental attitudes

Timber is a renewable resource increasingly utilised in sustainable construction, including in Mass Timber Construction (MTC). Consumer demand is likely pivotal to the mainstream adoption of MTC, the influence of consumer attitudes and purchasing decisions has yet to be empirically examined. The present study is the first to investigate how environmental values influence support for timber buildings in Australia, where timber is a central and often contested construction material. The present study aimed to understand if Australian consumers’ environmental attitudes mediate the relationship between perceptions of timber used in construction and property purchasing decision behaviours. Participants in the study were 281 Australian consumers (71 participants indicated they worked within the building industry) who completed three measures, the Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Attitudes toward the Environment scale, the Revised Timber in Urban Construction Scale and the Revised Buyer Preference in Residential Property Scale. The results revealed that anthropocentric attitudes toward the environment mediate the relationship between participants' attitudes toward the use of timber in construction and financial influences in property purchasing decisions accounting for 40 % of proportion mediated effect and in absolute terms a small effect size (11 %). In an additional analysis, participants indicated poor knowledge of the green rating tools, such as Green Star, however, were concerned about environmentally sustainable design in building practices and these influenced decisions to purchase products and services. The use of timber in buildings was rated as a neutral factor in constructing a future property purchase. However, just over half of all participants were concerned about the durability of timber, specifically relating to an increased risk of fire. Caution is advised when interpreting the results.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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